TIME JOCKEY: California Treks

Captain Juan Bautista de Anza led two overland expeditions into California to find a good land route from Sonora, Mexico to Monterey, Alta California. The land route would be used to bring hard-working settlers into the region along with sheep and cattle in order to support the fledging Mission system. The first expedition left Tubac, a presidio south of Tucson, Arizona, in January 1774. With 34 men, the expedition moved west, following the Colorado River and continuing on through the desert. On March 22, they arrived at Mission San Gabriel, which was then only three years old and received safe quarters and food. The second expedition began in 1775 and proceeded north to San Francisco, where it provided significant resources used in the building of Mission San Francisco. The expedition included 30 soldiers as a show of strength to stop the southern advance of Russian interlopers. The Spanish soldiers in the expedition brought along their families which were intended to be ‘pobladores’ or settlers in Alta California. Approximately, 240 people were in the group, including Fathers Font and Garces, along with over 1,000 animals. It was Fathers Font and Graces who would record accurate details of the journey for future expeditions. Father Font’s journals were informative and descriptive, providing valuable observations and information on the terrain and Indians. Font noted that the area around the Mission San Gabriel was quite beautiful with plenty of water and very good soil. Father Font wrote in his journal that the Gabrielinos were very peaceful and the women hid when they saw the Spanish soldiers, regardless of how peaceful the Spanish seemed. He explained in his journal that this may have been the result of past abuses by Spanish soldiers in earlier expeditions….

Moving Pio….

In 1921, Walter P. Temple, grandson of William Workman and son of F.P.F. Temple, purchased his grandfathers old ranch, which today is known as The Workman -Temple Homestead. Walter Temple restored the original ranch house and built his own mansion adjacent to the homestead site. He also completed the original mausoleum which includes his family as well as his grandparents and parents. The only exception is the former California Governor Pio Pico and his wife Dona Ygnacia Alvarado. According to Pico’s marker, he was governor two times from January 1832 to January 1833, and January 1, 1845 to August 1846. It also indicates he was born on May 5, 1801 at Mission San Gabriel and died September 11, 1894 in Los Angeles, California. Temple sought and received permission to move Pico and his wife to the mausoleum in order to be re-interred next to his old friends William Workman and F.P.F. Temple….